Beyond the unknown
by Chilxlaryxnya
Summary: He doesn't know anything; she doesn't know anything; they don't know anything. The question is will he know the unknown? Will he go beyond it and maybe a tad too much?
1. prologue

_Prologue_

_I felt empty inside. So empty I couldn't think or feel a thing and worst of all I was surrounded by darkness._

_Two tall figures appeared before me, I immediately recognised them as my mother and father._

_I screamed hoping they would hear me._

_The two figures started walking away from me, walking away to some man that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere._

_I ran towards them, telling them to stop and come back._

_They looked back with puzzled expressions and continued walking._

_The man was smirking, laughing one of those evil laughs you hear in horror movies._

_And then...I don't know._

* * *

The familiar plain ceiling above my bed stared back at my blank eyes. My left arm was reaching out just like it was in my dream and I slapped myself hard.

The dream was too real but I knew it wasn't too far from the life I had.

* * *

_My childhood was a mess: _

_My father left 3 years ago to whom knows where and probably still out there living-_

_My mother suffered from the shock and now lives her life in hospital-_

_And me? I live alone now in a shabby apartment living a life of a 13 year old with no parents to welcome me home, cook food for me and pay the electrical bills._

* * *

After assuming that a strange thumping noise on my door was Fine, I swung the door open and see the red haired girl dressed up neatly for school.

Oh don't get me wrong, we don't go to the same school, yet I have no idea why she comes to pick me up.

"Hurry up!" she cries, grabbing my hand.


	2. past stories

**_[ME]_**

For as long as I can remember after the matter with my father leaving, my mother locked herself in her room that used to be shared with the both of them.

"Mum, are you okay?" I called, gently knocking the door. I assumed she was asleep, she never did call back.

I grabbed an old biscuit tin from the back of our cupboards. I had managed to scrape it after looking through every nook and cranny of our house. I took a bite from the biscuit, it tasted plain and salty, I hoped it hadn't expired yet.

I switched on the TV and flicked through the channels: soap operas, news, comedy acts…it was all the same. After endless buttons pressed and shows being rejected i felt tired and obnoxious. Burying myself with cushions I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep.

I woke up early the next day, and attempted to knock on my mother's door again which ended up unsuccessful.

"I'm going now!" I yelled.

Remembering dimly a few dollars I still had in my pockets, I decided that breakfast was probably only going to be ham and cheese sandwiches from the nearby convenience store.

"That would be six dollars in total please"

I handed the cashier the exact amount.

"Have a nice day!" the cashier called before the convenience doors closed.

I unwrapped my breakfast, already six dollars had disappeared from my wallet. I guessed this was going to be my lunch too. I opened my icy cool Coke I had bought along with me and quickly drank it.

Someone came up behind me and slapped me on my back; I whipped around and saw the familiar face, however with everything going on at home at the moment, it was hard to find peace and figure a few things out.

"Tio…?" I asked uneasily.

He nodded in agreement and brought the conversation to our next basketball game.

"You know we're going to be playing Senshuu next you know?" he enquired.

I nodded, I wasn't very interested in our next match, I only wanted to hurry up and have our practice sessions.

"That's just because you're such a good player at basketball," Tio said, reading my thoughts while I shrugged at his suggestion.

* * *

That was 3 years ago; quickly my mother dedicated herself in hospital spending each and every cent each day while I live to fend for myself. I reminisce my past and I prefer to forget it.

This house left things I didn't want to refer back to.

Now, I vaguely remembered the messy double bed in that dismal room. My mother rots away in the hospital room, eating away the fees that she and father had saved up other years. I moved when I was 15 and ready to fend for myself.

Not that I ever had a choice.

I never did, he just left.

I didn't bother visiting my mother after I saw how my worthless efforts had worked out. However I didn't want Fine worrying over me. My first visit to the hospital was confusing, going through different floors, peering through minuscule windows to see which one my mother was in, I noticed a red haired girl staring after me after I had peered through her hospital room.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I immediately took notice of her leg, bandaged and looking very badly wounded.

"You okay?" I throw the question back.

Sighing she looked at her leg and reminisced the pain she had gone through with her scrunched up face. A minute later she whipped her head back into my direction.

"Are you okay?" she repeats.

"Just looking for someone…" I reply.

She smiles and raises her hand to wave a small goodbye.

I walk out the room and close the door behind me. Flashes of her broken leg and her depressed face carved itself into my mind. Suddenly around the corner, someone collided into me and dropped their things. Flustered, I pulled the girl up, revealing her light blue hair and her sapphire eyes. I stood there mesmerized until I forgot that she had dropped her bouquet of flowers. She smiled and muttered a 'thank you' and opened the door i had just left.

I begin to walk away from the room but step back to look for something I had missed:

_Room 508 Fine Mitsuke_

Now that is carved into my mind too.

* * *

**_[HER]_**

For as long as I can remember, Rein has constantly spent each second of her life with Altessa.

Don't get me wrong, it's not the blond hair and the emerald eyes that I hate about her, it's her attitude. Have you seen the amount of jewellery she covers herself with? How much time she spends in front the school bathroom mirror checking herself out and reapplying her lipstick?

I have absolutely no idea why Rein sucks up to her, why? Am I, your sister too boring? Should I fix myself up and pamper you everyday until you are satisfied?

To show her my wits I took myself up on a simple dare.

You see, our school has the huge tree which has been there for ages and without doubt is the tallest one in the whole yard. I had a pretty daring friend, a short brown haired guy who had this weird laugh that sounded like a parakeet.

"I dare you to climb the tree and hang upside down!" he teased.

Of course, being an athletic girl I did not refuse.

Branch by branch I pulled myself up with even more effort than the branches before. My legs felt numb and my arms began to ache. I placed myself upon the furthest branch I could reach; a few metres away from the peak.

I looked back down at my daring friend. He laughed with his parakeet voice and waved at me, clearly proud of my efforts.

I raised my hand to wave back but felt a strong push from behind and a glimpse of emerald green amongst the red autumn leaves.

I fell, tumbling down and gasping for air; waving my arms about and shaking my legs; I screamed and hit the ground.

I can still remember the hardness of the ground and the flinching pain in my right leg.

My brown haired companion rushes over to see if I was okay, I did not even for a second think about looking back to see who had pushed me. Maybe I would've but I was certain: those green eyes were hers.

He started panicking, feeling my leg to see if I had broken anything. I wished he would stop making such a huge fuss over me.

"Bright, it's okay let's just go to the hospital."

* * *

After all this I thought everything was going to be over. I just didn't think Rein wouldn't believe me.

_"Hey isn't this person dating that person?"_

_"Really, I didn't know that!"_

Squealing and gossiping, I droned into complete daydream.

I felt a strong whack on my head and I threw my head up to see Bright.

Squeals came again from those two, I realised they were looking at Bright and I.

I groaned, showing that I was utterly displeased at how the conversation was unraveling.

"Oh you'll be fine!" he laughed, "I've got something for you!"

He pulled my away and I smiled back after finally getting their attention. You see, Bright is pretty popular in our grade, he's been our next door neighbor for 2 years now and he feels like an older brother to me and Rein.

We stopped at our classroom and he pulled out something from his pocket: a small silver chained bracelet, attached was a small sun. My face glowed in delight and embarrassment.

"What about Rein?" I asked, trying to hide my red face.

"She….will get hers soon," he replied hesitantly.

I smiled and carefully wrapped it around my wrist. But the thought of Altessa and Rein pressuring me to tell me who I received it from was horrible. I unfastened the bracelet and carefully slipped it in my pocket. I peered back to see if Bright had seen what I had down. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

"I'll be going now," he called. I nodded, I was about to go too.

The second I stepped out of the room I was faced with two creatures: Altessa and Rein and immediately bombarded with questions. I looked around to see how Bright had escaped this chaotic moment.

Seeing the look on my face Altessa said, "We came after Bright left; he seemed a bit flustered so we wondered what had gone on in there…"

At this moment I was past worried about that bracelet. I felt for the small bumps in the pocket; I was really glad I had hidden it.

Altessa and Rein wanted information but I pushed them away but Altessa tried to push me back, eager to spread the news about the two of us.

"Get off!" I shouted, pulling away. This was exactly the reason why I hated her this much.

"I hate you and I know you pushed me off that tree – I will never forgive you," I growled pointing at her.

Rein tore us apart, upset and confused. I had told her countless times and I was showing no signs of backing off from Altessa. She wanted to lovely life full of gems with Altessa and the sincerity and sister bond she shared with me. But this was not possible. Even though Rein had pushed me off even if she did not believe me; I still stayed by her side.

Again during class those two were fiddling around with their phones and giggling away about who knows what.

I started doodling on my notebook filling it with colours and not bothering to listen about the history of France or whatever the teacher was trying to teach us. I received an aeroplane which had flown neatly onto my desk. I unfolded it and read:

"I have a basketball match tomorrow, come watch? Bright."

I wrote messily back a 'yes' and flew it in the direction of Bright. A thumbs up indicated that he was happy.

Soberly, I moaned at the grey clouds that covered the sky. I rummaged through my bag to find my torn, tattered umbrella that I had been using for years.

The rain sprinkled then came pouring down on both Rein and I. We both struggled to keep ourselves dry.

"Meow…"

A cardboard box was laid remotely on the sidewalk. A black, innocent cat stared at us with its orange eyes agog. I warmed up to it and my fingers reached out to stroke its soft sleeky fur. However a hand stopped me before I did. Rein, looked at me as if she was expecting me to stop and think. She was right though, mum was allergic to cats, there was no way we could keep it and petting it was only giving it hope.

"At least…let me give my umbrella to it, the poor thing is going to die out in this storm," I begged.

Rein slowly nodded, reassuring herself that an umbrella was not going to do much harm.

Cramped together, my shoes and bag were thoroughly soaked and my dress was half wet. Before my mum found out that I had left my umbrella out in the rain I ran up the stairs to my room which was shared between Rein and I. I undressed myself and put on a jumper and a pair of jeans.

"I hope the poor thing is alright," said Rein finally entering the room looking not half as wet as I was.

"Achoo!" I sneezed, "I hope someone picks it up."

Rein grabbed her pyjamas from her bed and went downstairs for a shower.

While I rubbed my nose, hoping it would help stop myself from sneezing and catching a cold too.


	3. rolling up my sleeves

_**[HER]**_

"Argh!"

It was absolutely the worst. Just a few minutes in the rain soaking myself had led me to this horrible disaster. I had caught a cold.

My ears perked up to the sound of my ringtone.

I reached desperately for my phone and grabbed it tight, noticing I had just received one new message.

_Fine, wish me luck!_

I lifted an eyebrow. What?

My mind fell into a frenzy jumble of yesterday's 'aeroplane' conversation. I gasped. I had totally forgotten: today was Bright's game!

Quickly I texted back a 'sorry' and dropped my phone beside me. I groaned and rubbed my forehead to feel my temperature rising by the minute. Then, I pulled the covers over me.

_**[HIM]**_

My hand trembled as I typed up my message. I was eager to show the results of my basketball training. Afterall I had long decided that this was the day; no more running away; today was the perfect opportunity. I felt my mind flutter and giggle in excitement, I knew she was coming, she promised.

"She's not coming," I heard a voice say from behind me.

I spun around; her twin was leaning against the wall, admiring her newly polished fingernails.

"What do you mean she's not coming?" I ask.

"Do you like my new nails? I think red really suits me," she carried one as if she hadn't heard me.

I frowned, "Where is Fine?"

Sighing, she pulled herself away from her nails and grabbed my basketball.

"A cold."

My ringtone went off and I fiddled with my phone.

_Sorry caught a cold._

So it was true, Fine had caught a cold – but it wasn't that I didn't trust Rein; just… she seemed so different to the one that I used to hang out with. Oh well – she lived her life.

"Think fast!"

I turned towards her before the ball plummeted into my face. Shocked, I felt anger rising up to the tips of my ears.

"Nice work!" she smiled and slowly walked away.

_**[THAT GIRL]**_

"HEY THINK FAST!" a voice yelled.

I spun around and was hit full on by the heaviest ball that ever existed. I fell back by the force and my right eye started tearing up.

"Ouch!" I cried and examined my nails. One of my nails had a slight crack in it, "I broke a nail!"

"Please Rein, still come and watch me play," Bright pleaded.

**After the game**

Cheers and claps were given to the victor team: Gaburonen.

I noticed Bright being slapped on the back for great effort especially the last break-taking seconds before Senshuu stole the game. He ran off the court and disappeared behind the nearest exit door. The opposing team leader ran after him.

_**[US]**_

Behind the stadium, two boys stood apart one glaring at the other who was smiling in delight.

"I won" said one, "It's a deal."

The brown haired kicked a pebble that was conveniently there and his eyes followed as i rolled away into small patches of grass.

Bright thumped his fist against the wall, "I…admit defeat." Afterall it would hurt his pride if he couldn't keep this kind of promise. His eyes stared soullessly into the sky as if he had lost his will to do anything, and then brought his eyes back to the boy.

"NO!"

Both boys turned around, a blue haired girl appeared behind a tree and they looked at her in bewilderment.

"Fine couldn't' bear a week without talking with Bright!" she cried, waving her hands around and then stopped to realise what she had said.

"That means…you were eavesdropping right?" the boy asks.

"Yes…I mean no!" she shouted, pushing him away.

"It's just that… Bright…." She whimpered.

The boy sighed, "I give up, the deal's off." He couldn't stand tears.

A relieved Bright broke into a small grin and patted Rein's head for fixing up the mess.

"But wait – I didn't get a chance to catch your name," Bright yelled when the boy started walking away.

"It's Shade," he replied.

_**-flashback to this morning-**_

_**[ME]**_

I pushed my alarm off my bed and yawned.

Another day; another game; another period of time wasted.

Quickly, I slid on my jersey and hurried to catch the next bus. A familiar face raised a hand and waved at me cheerfully.

"Excited?"Tio asked, buzzing with excitement as a bus slid into the curb.

I didn't reply and hurried on to find a seat. Throughout the whole journey I isolated myself from the other passengers: especially Tio. Spying the stadium out of the corner of my eye, I pushed the button for the next stop.

"I'm going to go on ahead, bye!" called Tio as he made his way towards our locker room and gathering with a few of our other team mates.

"You talk to him? But he's weird!" I heard one of them say.

I scrunched my fists. Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean I'm weird.

I glanced at them and saw Tio looking anxiously at me. Did he know what I was capable of? I didn't wait for an answer and walked off in the opposite direction.

Humming, I spotted a brown haired boy fussing over something. I walked closer and realised he was one of those people who probably took forever deciding how to send a simple text message to his girlfriend. Boy, I felt sorry for her.

I started to go away when I saw whoever was next to him.

Immediately I recognised her, that soft voice, that blue hair, it was that girl. That same girl I bumped into while she was visiting Fine.

I moved closer to catch their attention and slid behind a tree to catch bits of their conversation.

_Rein_ – so that was her name, not much of a chance of me remembering her name….

But one thing sunk into my mind really fast. Fine and cold equalled not coming. I figured the brown haired guy was texting Fine about his game today but realised that she wasn't coming because of a cold she had caught. Rein was one of those nail lovers and had come to watch his game today.

Interesting… today might not actually be a waste of time… finally a game that will set my adrenaline pumping.

I quickly look back to see if the brown haired guy was still here. Good he was.

I slap him hard on the back before he leaves.

He spins around confused as to wherever or not we had ever met.

"Do I know you?" he asks.

And I say, "Hey why don't we make a bet: whoever loses can't talk to Fine for a week."

Now that was pretty dumb, but I knew they were connected somehow and my mouth curved into a wide grin as he looked like he was about to explode in annoyance.

This was going to be so much fun.

**-end of flashback-**

The sudden reappearance of the blue haired girl reminded me of _her_.

I wondered whether or not her leg had healed yet, was she feeling better and smiling unlike that grouchy scowl she wore on her mouth?

There was a soft knock on the door. I cleared my head and went to open it.

"Sorry but Shade, you have to pay the rent, I can't keep you here forever but I know you're still underage…but-"

"But nothing, I need to start working now right?" I said impatiently.

"However I understand your mother's condition-"

"It's none of your business, that old hag has been there for too long-" I started shouting but stopped as I saw the horrified expression on the landlord's face. I never really burst out like that; never once complained in front of others when my mother left.

It was all dad's fault anyway.

"Well…I hope you can think of a solution, maybe go to a school with cheaper funds?" she suggested.

I nodded and closed the door behind me.

_Cheaper funds… Senshuu….Fine….._

Slowly the words trailed off into three words: transfer to Senshuu.

I ran out the door to share my solution.

_**[HIM]**_

I thought my days of seeing him were over. Now that he had come, the entire population of girls would come rushing out just to catch a glimpse of him. I mean, that used to be me…

I saw Fine and him the other day, laughing together and talking, I went up to her and told her that we had lost to him, she smiled and congratulated on my effort then turned back to Shade. I was angry. Why was he acting so friendly to Fine…that person used to be me…

Now whenever I fly Fine my aeroplanes she ignores them and scrunches them up. Has she become more mature? Does she hate me?

_**[HER]**_

I was so surprised when I saw that purple haired guy that came over to my hospital room a few years ago. It seemed like yesterday we had just met. Lately, I feel like Shade and I have a strong connection and it's always fun to talk to him. Bright came up to me and reported about his loss to Shade. I felt bad for him and congratulated Bright for his effort, I wonder if he will cheer up?

He threw an aeroplane at me today, I looked at it briefly and it said 'STOP TALKING TO SHADE.' I got so mad I scrunched the paper up and started ignoring him. Who told me who to talk to?

_**[THAT GIRL]**_

Altessa is the same as ever, gossiping with me and I really admire her attractiveness. Lately my mind wanders over to the basketball game and the purple haired guy…what's his name again? Oh right, Shade. He transferred over here a few days later after that game, very mysterious…I wonder if he has a particular reason…?

_**[HIM]**_

Argh! I hate him so much, but at least it will be easy now to follow on the plan. We failed on his father and now he will be replaced by his dear son. Everything is going smoothly and I just can't wait until I see his reaction when I take _her_ from him…

_**[Me]**_

I felt a cold shiver down my spine. It felt like one of those classic cartoons where you sneezed if someone was talking about you. I looked around for anyone who appeared shifty. However apart from Fine yelling and throwing paper on Bright, everyone seemed normal.

I started to walk over to Fine but bumped into someone who fell. I immediately said sorry and reached my hand out to her. To my surprise it was none other than Rein.

'We really bump into each other a lot huh?' I teased.

'Yeah…my photo book..' Rein said.

I picked up her dark blue photo album that had been tossed to the side.

"Here" I said as I gave it back.

"Ah! Would you like to join the photography club?" Rein asked enthusiastically.

Well, there was a requirement to join a club…and taking pictures didn't seem that hard…maybe…

"Fine's in it too," she winked.

"Gotcha!" I winked back. She definitely knew what I was thinking.

My face darkened, 'Is Bright in it too?'

'Yes…' she averted her eyes.

'Oh…I'll just head to my next class now…' I smiled.

'Tuesdays after school, Room 35!' She waved as she disappeared around the corner.

**I'm sure you can tell who 'Me "Her" "That Girl" are, but do you know who "Him" is?**


End file.
